The Resurrection and the Life (John 11:17-27) (3/22/26)

So here today on this final day in the season

of Lent we are looking at Jesus as the resurrection

and life in John 11. Let us now pray together.

Oh Lord and our God we give thanks unto you that

you have welcomed us into your presence. You

have made us your people and you have given us

such great promises in and through Jesus Christ

our Lord. And we now humbly ask you that you

make the words of my mouth and the meditations

of all our hearts pleasing in your sight. We

ask all this for the sake of Jesus, our nearest

kinsman redeemer. Amen. So reading the central

portion of John 11, let us hear God's word. So

when Jesus came, he found that he had already

been in the tomb for four days. Now, Bethany

was near Jerusalem, about two miles away, and

many of the Jews had joined the women around

Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their

brother. Now, Martha, as soon as she heard that

Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary

was sitting in the house. Now, Martha said to

Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother

would not have died, but even now I know that

whatever you ask of God, God will give you. And

Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again.

And Martha said to him, I know that he will rise

again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus

said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me, though he may die, he

shall live. And whoever lives and believes in

me shall never die. Do you believe this? And

she said to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you

are the Christ. the Son of God who is coming

to the world. These are the words of Almighty

God. Receive them in your hearts. As we look

at this passage today, I would like to point

out three things. You'll see this theme. One

is God's sovereign time. God's sovereign time.

Secondly, The grave consequences of sin. The

grave consequences of sin. And yes, there is

a pun there. And finally, no hope outside of

Jesus. No hope outside of Jesus. What concerns

you? Children, look up here. Look up here. What

makes you afraid? What keeps you awake at night?

For you adults, what causes anxiety and dread

and your stress? For many, the answer is death.

In a world who lives without God, death has a

finality of loss and an emptiness that drives

people into despair. Some turn to life -controlling

pursuits of money. prestige and success, and

yet they somehow never achieve enough and find

it lacking, and in time turn to drugs, both illicit

and prescriptions, alcohol, porn, immoral and

forbidden sex, anything to drown out the misery,

the emptiness and the hopelessness. For the Christian,

we have been given God's sovereign intervention

that we did not see coming. God has given us

an understanding that what we actually lack is

God Himself. God helps us to see our sin, and

He does not leave us without remedy. His plan

since the beginning of time has been our redemption

through the work of His Son. Jesus has reconciled

us, His people, the Church, to God the Father

by His substitutionary atonement and sacrifice

on the cross. Jesus' holiness was the only sacrifice

that could be made to redeem us and reconcile

us to God. God the Father did not, of course,

leave Jesus dead, but raised Him up. to be the

firstborn of the resurrection for all those that

he called from death to life. Our text today

from John 11 brings to bear the seventh validating

sign that Jesus was the Son of God. And we see

these seven signs in the Gospel of John. Now

Jesus' resurrection at Easter That's the eighth

sign, bringing the start of the new creation.

The events of John 11 begin with a word reaching

Jesus that his good friend Lazarus was sick.

In fact, this was not just Jesus' good friend,

this was one that he loved. And he loved Mary

and Martha and Lazarus all together. And this

was so much the situation that when the servant

came and told Jesus, Lazarus condition he said

this Lord behold he whom you love is sick for

all of us here today if we have the power to

ease the suffering and bring health to our loved

ones and close friends we would jump up and immediately

go to them Jesus however doesn't do what we expect

He said, this sickness is not unto death, but

for the glory of God that the Son may be glorified

through it. Remember last week we talked about

the blind man? Right? And how he was blind not

because of his sin, but that the glory of God

might be seen in him, might be revealed in him?

There's a carryover of that theme here today.

Astonishingly, we read that Jesus waits two more

days. and then tells his disciples that they

should go for our friend's sleeps, and I am going

to wake him up. Now the disciples were confused,

right? They were confused. Why? Because they

all know, just like you know, if you're sick,

what do you do? You need to rest. You need to

be hydrated. You need to sleep. And so when Jesus

says sleep, they're thinking, oh, must be part

of his recovery. And Jesus has to clear up the

confusion and say, no, Lazarus is dead. And Jesus

tells his disciples that he is glad for their

sakes that Lazarus is dead. And why? That they

may believe. Jesus is glad that he waited so

that they would believe. God works in his good

righteous and ordained time so that his people

may believe and see the works of God When our

loved ones are sick or suffering or even die

We question what is God doing? We ask why is

he waiting to respond or even to show up? People

of God Our God has a master plan to deliver his

people in order that we might see him revealed

and believe and trust in him He is revealed in

his unfolding plan, and he is glorified in it

God is never late God is never negligent God

is great and great is his faithfulness. It is

always, his faithfulness is always for his glory

and our benefit. As a matter of fact, his glory

is our benefit. Your health and death are appointed

to you by God alone. Have you ever wondered how

some people can do all the things that they think

are the right things? Exercise. Eat salads a

little bit of protein. They're counting cow.

They're doing everything they think they can

do to preserve their life and then they drop

dead 35 and Others who seem to care nothing at

all and in God's same good providence. They live

a long life Now we do have a responsibility to

be good stewards of our bodies. I'm not recommending

throw caution to the wind What I am saying though,

it's this that it is God who ordains the days

and steps of your life. And He is the one that

gives you life today. And on the day of His choosing,

He will call you up. As Christians, God's children,

we are to be glad and be content and be filled

with gratitude for His will is at work in our

lives. We are to honor God in sickness and in

health, and in so doing, glorify Him. That is,

as we live with gladness and contentment and

gratitude, even in the hard difficulties of pain

and sickness and even the loss of a loved one,

we are pointing to God. That is, that others

may see the glory of God and praise our Father

in heaven. Now Jesus arrives in Bethany where

Mary, Martha and Lazarus are. Now Bethany is

just two miles away from Jerusalem. So from Bethany

you can kind of look up and you can see the great

city of Zion, Jerusalem up there. You can see

the temple and in that city is where all of the

religious leaders and political leaders are enthroned

and plotting against Jesus. Now Jesus first encounters

Martha, who came when she heard that Jesus was

arriving. Martha believing Jesus utters this.

And have you ever said this? If you had only

been here, my brother would not have died. But

even now, whatever you ask of God, God will give

you. Martha sort of has this Hail Mary desperate

act. He's dead. You could have fixed him if you

were here. But I know, here's the Hail Mary,

here's the desperate plea, anything you ask of

God, God will give it to you. And now Jesus says,

be ready. He's gonna make a clear definitive

statement here. And this is gonna contrast greatly

the difference of one of the prevailing views

of the day. the high priests were part of the

Sadducees. And many were following the Sadducees,

and they did not believe in the resurrection

whatsoever. So that kind of made it, okay, well,

whatever I can get away with now, I can get away

with. That's not Martha. That's not even the

Pharisees. But here, Jesus makes a clear, definitive

statement. I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me, though he may die, he

shall live. And whoever lives and believes in

me shall never die." And then he says, do you

believe this? Jesus now declares in a very clear

way that he is the answer to what ails all of

mankind. As Romans 5 -12 reminds us that just

as through one man sinner entered the world and

death through sin, Thus death spread to all men

because all have sinned a little further down

in verse 19 It says for as by one man's disobedience

many were made sinners so also also by one man's

obedience Many will be made righteous Jesus by

the power and authority given to him by the father

declares that he is the resurrection and life

Sin ravages mankind, bringing death to all men.

Cut off from our Creator and the gift giver by

our sin, we are justly destined to die and suffer

eternity in hell for our wickedness. Dearly beloved,

Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Martha

responds to Jesus' question, do you believe this?

Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ

the son of God who is coming into the world Martha

is declaring what acts for tells us that there

is no salvation in any other than Jesus For there

is no other name under heaven given among men

by which we may be saved Martha secretly calls

her sister Mary who comes running to Jesus And

we have this very emotional scene of Mary weeping

and all the mourners that ran after Mary. And

following her, they're all weeping. And this

isn't just like a regular weep. They are howling.

They are mourning hard. And once again, we have

a repetition of Martha's conversation. Mary says,

Jesus if you had only been here The text explains

that Jesus groaned in the spirit and was troubled

Jesus here is groaning and troubled because here

in this moment Jesus sees the great devastation

of sin He is troubled and in a deep and an enraged

way of the wages of sin. He hates sin. How sin

brings suffering, trials, loss, and a sense of

hopelessness. For death is inevitable. In men,

there is no recourse. Jesus asked to see where

they have laid Lazarus, and they answered, come

and see. Come and see the hideous Results of

sin. Jesus wept. The bystanders declare, see

how Jesus loved Lazarus, and now for the third

time the question of Jesus' timing occurs. The

crowd too inquires, could not this man who I

opened the eyes of blind also kept this man from

dying? There's a clear reference to what we just

studied last week remember Bethany's here Jerusalem's

here Jesus was coming out of the temple last

week, and he sees the blind man, and he does

in fact store sight not just of his eyes, but

of his heart and They're saying well. We know

that story that just happened a few months ago

like like let's He could certainly do this It's

all about the timing Jesus again groans at the

blindness to God's deliverance for His people.

Saints of God, remember how Jesus told His disciples

that Lazarus had died that they might believe?

Jesus, saddened by the effects of sin, is glad

that the works of God are being revealed in Him

as truly the resurrection and the life. Jesus

tells them to take the stone closure off the

grave and roll it away Now we have Martha here

who believes that Jesus is the Christ the Son

of God who's coming to the world She's like yep.

You're the Messiah. You're the one and What does

she say she objects because it has been four

days, and there's a stench You know It's interesting

to note that at that time the rabbinical teachings

had this idea that, you know, you could sometimes

put a person in the grave and you might be able

to do something and you could revive them up

to three days. Nobody is capable of coming back

to life after four days. They would say he was

really dead. And as if we looked at Older translations,

it says this. This is Martha in the King James.

Surely, Lord, he stinketh. Decomposition has

begun. And in just a little, he's ripe. And he's

ripe with death. For Mary, Martha, the disciples,

and all those who had come from all over to comfort

the family, there's now no hope. No hope. outside

of Jesus We need to remember that Jesus came

to thwart unbelief And so Jesus said to her did

I not say to you that you would that if you would

believe You would see the glory of God It's interesting.

He is like you'll see this miracle. It's about

what? He is constantly pointing to glorifying

his father in everything he's doing. He's reconciling

men to the father and it all for the father's

glory. And then they took the stone from the

place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus

lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank

you that you have heard me. And I know that you

always hear me. But because of the people who

are standing by, I said this. that they may believe

that you sent me. Now when he had said these

things, he crowed with a loud voice, Lazarus,

come forth. And he who had died came out, bound

hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face

was wrapped in a cloth. And Jesus said to them,

Loose him and let him go. Jesus points to the

glory of God over death. Jesus prayers praise

a prayer of thankfulness For this the greatest

and seventh revelation before the cross that

they may see and Truly see and truly believe

that God the Father has sent him Jesus demonstrates

his authority over death Lazarus come forth and

loose him and let him go Lazarus who was dead

came out bound in grave clothes from head to

foot and Jesus commanded that he be let loose

Dearly beloved when Jesus calls us out of the

grave from the deadness of our sins He commands

us to life and a life of being loosed When God

gives us a new heart he puts his name on us in

baptism. We are his He is faithful to give us

both the resurrection in the future and true

life now We must be discipled to obey all that

he has commanded us What happened to Mary Martha

the disciples and all those observers that day

was meant to reveal who Christ Jesus is That

they might believe in him So too for all of us

who call and trust in Jesus, call on the name

of the Lord Jesus and trust in Him as the resurrection

of life can be assured by what we hear in 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. This is a faithful saying, for if

we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.

If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If

we deny Him, He will also deny us. If we are

faithless, He Remains faithful he cannot deny

himself I know oftentimes when I read that passage

I Feel pretty small I pre I feel pretty helpless

Saints of God Jesus is faithful We need not fear

or worry of Jesus faithfulness We must with humility

and gratitude lay aside our sin and confession,

and then turn to actions that glorify the Father

in heaven. We have a tendency to prop ourselves

up on our own righteousness by going to church

and then not trusting in Jesus. You have been

set free by the atoning work of Jesus on the

cross. Dearly beloved, in Christ Jesus, God has

called you to life Don't hold on to your sin

and your unbelief In the face of the resurrection

of Lazarus many resisted Believing in Jesus with

all those signs here. They are water to wine

The healing of the nobleman's son the healing

of the paralytic the feeding of the five thousand

Jesus walking on water the healing of the blind

man and now the obvious resurrection of Lazarus

and all these plotters They've been around the

whole time. They know about these things and

with all this They resisted God Even to the point

of death Jesus Now unbelief remains. We see at

the end of chapter 11, it says this, then the

chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council

and said, what shall we do? For this man works

many signs. If we let him alone like this, everyone

will believe in him. And the Romans will come

and take away both our place and our nation.

Look at this they are and this is the third week

in a row We talked about Jeroboam two weeks in

a row and this whole thing about wanting to keep

the control over everything I Want to keep control

over my life more? That I want to believe God

more than I want to see people reconcile to God

more than I want to see people come to the knowledge

of he who is resurrection and the life And of

course it gets a little worse if we look over

It says that they from that day on they plotted

to put him to death. That's Jesus Later on in

chapter 12 we see that it says this but the chief

priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also

Because on account of him many of the Jews went

away and believed in Jesus Selfishness all for

my own gain, to maintain my power, my position,

my control over things. And I'm gonna do all

that against God and against seeing anyone else

come to know Him. Dearly beloved, Jesus is the

resurrection and the life. Without Him, we face

the grievous consequences of our sin. But rejoice

for Jesus our only hope is always faithful and

always on time Let us pray Heavenly father we

come to you you are the one who has ordained

joy for us in the midst of all things and triumphs

over even death Be merciful to us for often our

minds are too much filled with the problems of

the world and our own problems So much so that

we forget to sing your praises and rejoice in

you to give thanks to you We ask that you take

away the discontent from our hearts and the impatience

at the trials that we undergo Fix our hearts

where our true joy is to be found even on Christ

Jesus our Lord We ask all this for the sake of

our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who reigns with

you in the Holy Spirit forever and ever amen

All right, let us continue our worship by the

giving of our tithes and offerings Bring forth

the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all. Bring

forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of

all. Let us pray. Blessed are you, O Lord God,

for through your goodness we have these gifts

to share. Accept and use your tithes and offerings

for your glory and for service in your kingdom.

Blessed be God forever and ever. Amen.